Monday, September 26, 2011

Haunts

Falling in love with LA is something that's turned out to be a huge surprise to me.  The first couple years I lived in the city I seriously thought I was going to lose my sh*t.  Pushy people, everyone claiming to be an actor (as they help you try on your shoe or pass your tea over the counter), the snazziest car at the four way stop goes first--unwritten rules that I was unaccustomed to and, quite frankly, highly annoyed by.  Then around year three, once I started working for myself and had more free time (read: no longer chained to the desk for 12 hours/day), an interesting thing happened.  I would wake up in the morning and want to be in certain parts of town or at certain places.  And the things that once worked my nerve, well I didn't notice them as much anymore.

Cut to a couple years down the line when the Chef and I began doing dinner and a movie once a week, and the fascination grew.  We discovered some seriously great places, and after awhile developed a handful of favorites that became our top spots to hangout at for hours.  Apparently we weren't the only ones finding them either because we'd often run into the same people over and over. And after awhile some of those people became friends of ours.  This city is delightfully unexpected that way.

Yesterday we popped into a coffee shop that used to be relatively unknown, but is now kinda not so much.  We sat down to grab dessert and I glanced next to me to see the tiniest girl.  Suddenly it dons on me:  Ellen Page.  Juno in the house!  I loved her in that movie and also thought she killed it in Inception...Canadian too by the way and no I'm not usually a name dropper.  Anyway we're all sandwiched in elbow to elbow and I'm fighting everything in me not to turn and embarrassingly exclaim I think she's bomb (to which she'd probably be like, lady are you 53 years old with that terminology and do I know you?) when I hear one of her friends mention how pretty LA is.  And she responded with something along the lines of LA is a very pretty city--enchanting in its own way and in ways you wouldn't initially think it would be.  Kindred spirit.

And then the server brought my peanut butter banana cup cushioned in the flakiest pastry you ever did try.  The rest is a blur.
~Details:  Young, Fabulous & Broke-Vest, James Perse-V-Neck, Martin+OSA-Skinnies, 
Sorial-Bag (similar), Banana Republic-Boots (similar), Anthro-Sunglasses~
Passion Fruit Gelee Peanut Butter Banana Cup + Lavender Lemonade + Decaf Espresso 
Low Luv x Erin Wasson-Necklace (sale!)

46 comments:

Barbara von Enger said...

It's nice to fall in love with city in which one lives especially after having seen it through different eyes.

I lived in LA myself but in the wonderful rolling Hills/palos verdes. Such wonderful views. And away from down town. LA. Have no idea who the actress is you mentioned above but I enjoyed this story. The food looks great.

Anonymous said...

I can't say you run into celebrities much (ok, ever), in AL but I know what you mean about finding places in a city that start to make it feel like home. The ONLY things I miss about MS are a couple of those places we'd found while we lived there.

Caitlin @ Candyfloss & Persie said...

that's awesome, sometimes the "acquired taste" love affairs are even better than the at first sight kind. And how cool about Juno! I love her in that movie but thought they could've cast a bit stronger for Inception, I don't really think that was her bit but she was perfect in Juno. I have strong suspicions that she might be Gay (which to me, doesn't matter in least this is by no means to put her down), she just seems like she is. Anyway, cool story and sounds like your coffee house visit was a success. Love the fit here, you look beautiful.

Sharon Lei said...

Hey hun! How have you been? I haven't stopped by in so long.. but I see you're still your stylish gorgeous self. :D

Sooooo awesome that you were right next to Ellen Page. I adore her. :) I would have probably been one of those annonying people who would have been swooning all over her. LOL. I kid! There was this one time that I was in the same bathroom as Nicole Scherzinger... I was about a foot away from her and we were both washing our hands and I turned to her and gave her the most ridiculously large (and probably creepy) smile! Of course she smiled back and even said "hey!". She's so darn PRETTY!

Anyhoo, I hope all is well in your part of the world. Smooches. :D

xx Love & Aloha

RosaLovesDC said...

Awesome that you saw Ellen Page, I love her!
Really enjoyed your love story with LA, I think I fell in love with DC almost immediately.

k said...

ooo i love this outfit :) and it's so true, just like a relationship i guess, a love for a city grows with time!

Polly said...

I can see that LA is one of those places that needs to be lived in to be loved. And Juno, thats awesome AND thats a great great outfit. xx

Anonymous said...

Love the boots and I love Ellen Page... she is brilliant! xo

taylor said...

those boots! i'm totally in love with them. glad to hear you like la. i've never been, but it seems like a place i could only tolerate in small doses. it does seem to have charming parts, though. in other news, i started the 30 day shred again. have i lost my marbles?!?

Closet Fashionista said...

Loving this outfit, those boots are perfection!! And oooh Ellen Page! That's so cool!!
P.S. check out today's blog post, you'll like the end ;)
http://www.closet-fashionista.com/

Danielle (elleinadspir) said...

I never thought I'd miss LA, I'm such a NorCal girl, but I do actually miss LA quite a bit.

17 Perth said...

Holy shiznat! I applaud your self-control. :) It is always shocking how small celebrities are in person. As far as your outfit..... I love the necklace you are wearing! How do you resist wearing it everyday?

danielle said...

ahah! i knew that shit was erin wasson. love her jewelry! i feel the same way about philly. especially since i moved to a hood off the beaten path of center city. removed from the loud ass teens, homeless crazies, and garbage, i'm now surrounded by hipsters, art, and industrial/green buildings. oh world peace :)

Secondhand Stella said...

Love the necklace and boots!

Courtney Erin said...

That's such a cute story - love Ellen Page. And the way you felt about LA seems pretty close to the way I thought about New Haven for the first 2 years that I lived here...then I discovered different parts of it that made me smile and not want to run for the hills.

xoxo ~ Courtney
http://sartorialsidelines.com

Leah said...

Great necklace. And she pulls out the boots! Nice, I guess fall is officially here now.

xo L.

Kristen said...

aww what a great story. the ellen page sighting is too cool! loving that necklace and the YOLK sign in the background of this shoot!

TheChambrayCountess said...

I totally agree with you-- finding those hidden gems helps make the city your own in a way. And Ellen Page! So jealous!

Tiffany Kadani said...

Haha! When food comes everything does go blurry for me also. And seeing Ellen Page is awesome.

Josie said...

Peanut butter. Banana. Cup. Carrie, sometimes your posts are just music to my ears. AND Ellen Page? Hello, for the win. I'm so glad that you've fallen in love with your city, Carrie -- I hope I can visit again someday so that I can see all of these fabulous places!
xo Josie
www.winksmilestyle.com

The Suburb Experiment said...

I used to live in Sun Valley, ID where several stars have their homes. Arnold Schwarzenegger (sp?) came into the store I worked to look at shoes and my coworker took one look at him, screamed, and ran out the back door.

That's basically been my ruler for inappropriate celeb interaction since. Low bar, I know. :)

Jenn
The Suburb Experiment

Ashleigh said...

HOT! That necklace is wicked awesome!

Hearing you talk about LA like this is giving me the pangs again (not that they ever went away.) Ugh condo, why won't you sell!!!

Jamie said...

You look GORG!! Love this outfit and that necklace is SOO you!
Hope this week is better-for both of us!
xoxo

http://www.glamlatte.com

Anonymous said...

You and I both used the word Haunts in our blog post today.
Pick poke you owe me a coke. ;)

A Crimson Kiss said...

Perfect, perfect, perfect. I'm still getting the hang of SF, which is arguably a far easier city to get along with, so I'm relieved I'm not the only one who struggles.

Claire Kiefer said...

Heehee I saw the Ellen Page thing on twitter! So funny. I get all star struck when I see celebrities (which is rare and usually on visits to LA, like when I saw Mel B aka Scary Spice meeting with Gloria Allred at Mr. Chow, HA!). You look lovely as usual. Glad to be back among the . . . blogging.

LyddieGal said...

brushing elbows with the stars - how fabulous!
I feel like I would never have the nerve to actually speak to someone famous either - I mean, what could I possibly say to not sound like an idiot, right?

but just being there is cool.

and that banana cup does seriously look awesome.

Chic on the Cheap

hip hip gin gin said...

I"m so impressed you were able to resist, I would have totally lost all coolness and gushed away! I love her!

And you looked fab as usual, you totally should have said hello!

Unknown said...

Holy canoli! That looks delicious. And you made me love Ellen Page a little more, and LA - which I've hardly spent any time in. Such a lovely ode!

Rachel from Love a la Mode said...

Sounds like a relaxing day... even though school just started I'm eagerly awaiting summer just so I can (hopefully) be back in LA again.
Bisous,
Rachel

FRANKIE HEARTS FASHION said...

that looks soooo yum and so does your vest!! Love this. xo

Isabel said...

your desserts looks amazing! i have never spotted a famous person but im not sure id be cool. lol

Melissa Blake said...

Just another reason I neeeed to move to LA! :)

Marie a la Mode said...

You were next to Juno? You should have started up a conversation with her. Once you told her you're Canadian I'm sure she would have taken you for coffee ; ) Love your vest and necklace, Carrie!

little luxury list said...

Yum a city with great food and Ellen page can't ne too bad right? Loving this outfit!

xoxo,
Chic 'n Cheap Living

kimbirdy said...

oh you were in my neighborhood! i live about half a mile from yolk and lamill, and ellen page lives not far from me too. i often pass her when we're both jogging around the lake. let me know next time you're in the silver lake/echo park area and maybe we can say hello in real life.

Lila said...

First off the peanut butter flaky madness looks too good for words. 2nd I would like to know How can you eat all of that and still look that great?

annelise said...

I've had that feeling too when I was living in Cork, Ireland. I really didn't like it to start with but when I was flying back in after a quick jaunt to Italy, I was so excited to be back there and it felt like coming home.

I haven't seen Ellen Page in anything other than Juno but I flipping love that movie. So good.

And I love that you love The Goonies as well! I was so excited when I read your comment, no-one else really gets how I feel about it! I've never seen Lars and the Real Girl though, so I'll have to check it out.

Johanna said...

I'm digging the wavy hair on you. So jeals...I would love another option other than hanging or pin straight.

Kendall said...

Gorgeous as always! I loved Juno SO much. Kindred Spirits. :)

Tracy D said...

I love hearing about your fabulous LA life, I life vicariously thru your adventures. One time when we were in LA we almost ran over Natalie Imbruglia with our rental car. Then we saw Giovanni Ribisi at a restaurant...it took all I had not to tell him how great he was as Phoebe's brother. We felt so glamorous rubbing elbows with the celebs.

K A T H L E E N said...

really like that vest!

allergic to vanilla said...

that's so great, I love hearing stories like that! LA suits you, you seem very much in your element!

I wouldn't have said anything either to Ellen Page- I'm kinda like that though- a chicken, haha!

xo Carlina

Fé... said...

What an interesting love story. To despise something and then gradually fall in love with it. It's sweet. I wish I could go away from my happy and quiet hometown for somewhere more challenging. Then I could have my own city-love story :p

Julie and Lauren said...

I totally think LA grows on people. I think I'd be happy every day because of the sunshine, but I know it's a transition!!! Maybe someday I'll be there : ) XOXO

Kara Endres said...

Love the necklace. So... I started catching up on your posts that I missed early this morning. Then I saw the lavender lemonade and got sidetracked when I searched out a recipe until just now (10pm) wooooah.

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